Year-End Message from President Treadwell
Dear Colleagues,
As we close the 2025–26 academic year, I want to take a moment to reflect on the work we have done together and to share a few thoughts about our progress and future direction.
When we met as a community for an all-campus meeting in January, I committed to staying in regular communication with you and holding an end-of-year update. This message is part of that commitment and an opportunity to share my appreciation, highlight important progress, and look ahead. Time is a precious resource, and I want to be both responsive and flexible to the variety of work hours, commitments, and interests across our campus community. And so this is an alternative approach: an email with a video to share gratitude, a summary of reflections, updates, and a personal message. I look forward to your feedback as we test different communication approaches.
First, thank you.
Thank you for the way you have welcomed me into this community, and for the care and dedication you bring to your work every day. It is an honor to serve alongside you. The strength of Geneseo is evident in the thoughtfulness of our faculty and staff, the engagement of our students, and the shared sense of purpose that connects us.
Just last week, we celebrated Commencement, one of the most meaningful moments in our academic year. It was an honor to recognize the members of the Class of 2026, both our bachelor’s and master’s graduates, whose accomplishments reflect years of hard work and perseverance. I offer my sincere gratitude to the many people who contributed to making the ceremonies so special. From faculty and staff to student leaders and support teams, your efforts ensured that our graduates and their families experienced a day that was both joyful and memorable. Thank you for the care you brought to every detail.
This year, we continued to make progress in strengthening Geneseo’s position as New York’s public liberal arts honors college. The work to formalize that designation continues, supported by strong academic outcomes, a highly selective academic profile, and national recognition. Quite simply, Geneseo is exceptional. At the same time, we remain focused on who we serve and how we serve them. Our commitment to access and equity is central to our identity, and it guides our decisions.
Across campus, there has been meaningful work to support student success. We are expanding programs such as AOP, preparing to join SUNY’s ACE initiative, and strengthening our partnerships with community colleges with our honors pathway program. Through our participation in the SUNY Academic Momentum Campaign, we are taking a closer look at how we support students from admission through graduation, with the goal of deepening our excellence, continuing to build the support systems that students of tomorrow will demand, and confronting the barriers to their success at Geneseo. I hope that in five years, any student who is asked “What is your experience as a Geneseo student?” we will see common themes of welcome, support, agency, and excellence.
We are also seeing encouraging signs in our enrollment outlook. Returning student registration remains strong, and early indications for fall 2026 undergraduate and graduate enrollment are promising. With the launch of nearly two dozen new academic pathways with public and private institutional partners across the state, we are seeing strong interest in our articulation agreements and advanced degree completion pathways. Geneseo is on the move, expanding our reach and attracting students during a time of significant challenges in the higher education market. My most sincere appreciation to all of this community for the work to recruit, support, and retain our students. Ultimately, this is our mission.
In addition, we have been working to strengthen relationships across our region. Our partnerships with municipal leaders, corporate organizations, and nonprofit groups are growing and creating new opportunities for collaboration. This work reflects our vital role in contributing to a vibrant community and economy through our students, graduates, and employees, and the college’s contributions to our broader region. This will increasingly be an element of our work together.
I have also appreciated the opportunity to engage with our shared governance bodies and leadership groups this year. The conversations we have had with the Senate, labor management leadership, and student association leaders have been thoughtful and constructive. There is a strong foundation here, and I look forward to continuing that work together.
We have also made progress in our financial position. Positive enrollment trends, combined with careful expense management, including travel restrictions and savings from attrition and retirements, have helped us address our structural gap. At the same time, we know that this effort is ongoing. Over the summer and through the upcoming year, we will be working earnestly to deepen partnerships and expand our revenue generation. We will be looking at our organizational structures and student support services to identify ways we can create synergies and opportunities that we are missing. I will ask groups to come together to review events and conferences and make recommendations on whether we can, or should, expand our commitments and expectations here. We will also review our computer and information technologies portfolio to identify investment needs and provide organizational recommendations. That work will be undertaken in the months ahead, and I remain committed to sharing updates in a timely and transparent way.
As we move into summer, I hope you find time to rest and recharge. I look forward to seeing everyone on August 21 for the Opening Convocation, when we will begin the new academic year together and call ourselves back into the community. I also look forward to continuing these conversations in greater depth at the State of the College address in January 2027.
Thank you again for all that you have contributed to this year. It has been a strong and meaningful one for Geneseo, and I am grateful to be part of this community with you.
With appreciation,
Melinda
